Wide-ranging oral histories from Grand Valley, Capital Area District Library, and Michigan State that capture the perspective of citizens and veterans across the state.
Dora Kilmer was born in Plymouth, England, in 1924. After high school, she worked for a gas company in the office and eventually worked as an air raid warden. As an air raid warden, she patrolled outside and assisted others in getting into the shelters during the raids. She met an American soldier stationed there and married him in 1945 towards the end of the war. Eventually, she went back to the US with her husband and lived in West Virginia, and eventually Michigan.
Date Created:
2012-02-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Art Lucas was born in a small farm town in Michigan in 1922. There he acquired farming skills that would help him to avoid being drafted into the war at the very beginning. Lucas became eligible for the draft and decided to enlist in the Navy serving on an LST as a signalman and then as a quartermaster between 1944 and 1946. He has photographs taken in Japan after Nagasaki had been bombed. After serving, he continued farming and in Michigan was voted supervisor of his township for 25 consecutive years. Personal narrative, "My Two Years Before the Mast" is appended to the interview outline.
Date Created:
2007-09-20T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Horton Mallory was born in Elwell, Michigan, and was drafted during World War II. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and trained as a bombardier. He flew in B-24 bombers out of Italy, and served a total of 38 missions in the later stages of he war.
Date Created:
2011-05-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Richard McCarty served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War (approx. 1951-1953). After completing his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he was employed as a truck driver on base. Richard was assigned to be sent to Korea but was discharged before being sent out. He served in the National Guard after completing his military service.
Date Created:
2010-05-09T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Gordon Zuverink joined his local National Guard unit in Holland, Michigan, after graduating from high school in 1939. His unit was federalized in 1940 and sent to train in Louisiana. In 1942, his division was sent to Australia and then to New Guinea. Zuverink became one of the "Ghost Mountain Boys" who trekked across the Owen Stanley Mountains as part of the campaign against Buna. During the campaign, he contracted malaria and was sent back to Australia, where he served for the remainder of the war.
Date Created:
2011-09-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Gene Welch was born near Midland, Pennsylvania in 1942. After graduating high school in 1960, he decided to join the Navy. Mr. Welch received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Academy, and then went to a training school in San Diego to specialize in welding and metal working. He worked on the repair ship USS Klondike and the oiler USS Chemung. He made cruises to Japan, The Philippines, and Hong Kong on both of them. After returning to the United States in 1963, he was stationed at Long Beach for another year while the Chemung was being overhauled.
Date Created:
2011-10-17T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
George Edema was drafted into the Army in March of 1943. George traveled around the US for training and was then asked to be an instructor in small arms. He only taught for two weeks before he was called into the Army Specialized Training program. George then went to India, Burma and China for a short amount of time before he caught diphtheria and was sent back to the US.
Date Created:
2008-02-05T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
James VandenBosch, born in Ada, Michigan, enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and trained as a medical corpsman. After a cruise aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La in the Mediterranean, he trained for combat duty with the Marines at Camp Lejeune and was sent to Vietnam in 1968. After a short stint with a Civil Action Patrol working in the villages near Da Nang, he became the senior corpsman for a rifle company of the 26th Marines, and participated with them in a series of combat operations. He spent the last part of his tour at a hospital in Da Nang. After his discharge, he eventually decided to go to nursing school and re-enlist in the Navy, this time as a nurse and officer. He did so, and retired from the Navy in 1989.
Date Created:
2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Steve Byers had been in the Navy for 20 years when he retired in 2000. He discusses the benefits of military life and some of the differences between military and civilian experiences and attitudes.
Date Created:
2008-04-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Loren Brand entered the Marine Corps in 1966, and attended college at Michigan State University and North Texas University. He was trained in aviation and served in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot. After the war he became an FBI agent.
Date Created:
2009-05-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Steve was born in Ionia, Michigan in 1964. He graduated from high school in 1982 and later joined the Army National Guard where he served as a telecommunications specialist. In 1997, Steve decided to switch to the Air National Guard because he wanted to travel and see the world. While with the Air National Guard, he transferred to the civil engineer unit as a plumber. He was sent to Saudi Arabia, England and Israel and worked at several military bases within the United States including Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. He retired from the Guard around 2004.
Date Created:
2013-01-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Daniel John Morley served in the United States Army from 1987 to 1993, earning the title of 2nd Lieutenant. In this interview, Morley discusses his four years at West Point Military Academy; the rigors of the program and the intense training that included jumping out of airplanes and helicopters. One of the most memorable moments in his military career was jumping out of an airplane during training with the wrong parachute. Morley never saw combat. After the service, he became a teacher.
Date Created:
2006-05-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Roger Morrison was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 21, 1924. He went to school until he was 14 years old and then began working in a bait shop until he was drafted into the Army in February 1943. Roger went through basic training in El Paso Texas and advanced training in New Mexico for a total of 6 months. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Division and first fought in North Africa, working with an anti-aircraft unit. They later moved north into France, Belgium, Germany, and then back to Marseilles. Roger had been training for the war in the Pacific in Marseilles, but was eventually discharged before being sent to the Pacific.
Date Created:
2007-04-14T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Roy Olson was born in Minneapolis in 1922 and later moved to Michigan where he graduated from high school in 1941. He then began taking pre-dental classes at college and was a sophomore when he was drafted into the Army Medical Corps. Roy had basic training in Illinois for 6 weeks and was then transferred to work at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC. Roy worked in DC for a year and was then sent to work in two other hospitals in Hawaii for about another year.
Date Created:
2008-11-21T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
In the second part of his interview Jim Roach covers his second tour in Vietnam (1969-1970), where he initially commanded D Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in the A Shau Valley and other parts of I Corps. After six months, he rotated to a rear area assignment, but was then sent to command a company in the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment and get it into shape. His second tour ended in June 1970, after which he served with the U.S. Army Rangers, attend college at St. Martin's College, went to Special Forces School, and also worked in Latin America aiding several Latin American countries in improving their militaries. He also served in South Korea and in Germany and was also selected to serve in the elite Secret Army of Northern Virginia. Towards the end of his career he was selected to be the Special Forces Group Commander of Group 7 stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Date Created:
2013-07-05T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Nina Trierweiler served as a nurse's aide in the Army during World War II. She and her sister enlisted together, trained at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and were assigned to the military hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she served until November, 1945. She also discusses some of her husband's experiences as a soldier in Europe
Date Created:
2008-02-21T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ken Scott was born in Alma, Michigan in 1937. Ken graduated from Central Michigan University in 1960 and then went into the Army. His first duty was in Korea with the 7th infantry 17th transportation battalion as their platoon leader. In 1962 he came back to the US and then was sent to Germany from 1962 to 1964 where he commanded a heavy truck company. After Germany he activated a transportation company and went with them to Vietnam in March of 1967. He did one tour in Vietnam and then after being home for a short while did another. Ken then went to work as a professor of Military science working in Illinois and then Grand Rapids, Michigan until he retired in 1999. Personal account of military service is appended to interview outline.
Date Created:
2008-05-08T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Elma Weiss was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1923. She attended Ohio State University and then enlisted in the Navy in 1943. She served in Oakland, California during the war and subsequently attended the University of California and was playing in a softball league in the area when she was recruited for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. She played for parts of two seasons with the Peoria Redwings and Rockford Peaches, including a barnstorming tour of the south, and was a reserve outfielder. After her time in the league, she continued her education, received a doctorate and was a Professor of Physical Education at Phoenix College in Arizona.
Date Created:
2010-08-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Kent Fisher was born on July 1, 1946 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in the summer of 1968 and was called up for service in December 1968. He received his basic training at Cape May, New Jersey then received further training at Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, North Carolina. From Emerald Isle he went to Governors Island, New York, where he attended Yeoman School. He returned to Emerald Isle and worked on the Coast Guard cutter, USCGC Verbena. He was promoted to the rank of petty officer second class and received orders to join the USCGC Munro. He was selected for Officer Candidate School, graduated with the rank of ensign, and was then promoted to lieutenant. He joined the USCGC Tamaroa in January 1974 and served aboard the ship until he was reassigned to the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Rescue Coordination Center, where he helped plan the search and rescue operations for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. He was then given command of Coast Guard Station Cape May, New Jersey and from there was transferred to the 9th District Commander's Office in Cleveland, Ohio. He also served at Coast Guard Station Muskegon, Michigan, and ended his career at Governors Island, New York, as the Chief of News & Photos. He retired from the Coast Guard on May 1, 1990 after 22 years of service and with the rank of lieutenant commander.
Date Created:
2016-06-13T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Jack Stoepker was born in 1928 in Holland, Michigan, and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He served as an air raid warden during World War II, and enlisted in the Army in summer 1946. While training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he injured a knee and was sent to Valley Forge General Hospital, Pennsylvania and during recovery there was transferred to the dental clinic at the hospital to work as a dentist's assistant. He specifically aided patients that had suffered severe facial trauma during the war and needed reconstructive surgery as well as physical and psychological rehabilitation.
Date Created:
2015-04-16T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Fidel Angel Vega was born on June 30, 1973 in the Bronx, New York. During his adult life, Fidel worked a number of unsatisfying jobs that led him to enlist in the Army. In the army, Fidel served first as a combat engineer in the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. Fidel was later transferred to the 82nd Engineer Battalion with whom he saw service in Germany as well as in Kosovo as a part of the peace keeping mission there following the Kosovo War. Leaving the army in October of 2001, Fidel's last month in the service was shaped by the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Date Created:
2014-11-24T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Cornelius "Casey" De Jonge was born in the Netherlands, became a US citizen in 1935, and served in the Merchant Marines between 1943 and 1943. He tells of a series of voyages in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, including some difficult trips to Russia via the Arctic route.
Date Created:
2008-03-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Richard De Young was born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan. He volunteered for the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general and De Young assumed that that fact would somehow benefit him. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, De Young received computer training in Amarillo, Texas. Once his training was complete, he served at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, home of Strategic Air Command. Although he twice requested permission to go to Vietnam, the Air Force denied both requests, partly because De Young had a top-secret clearance.
Date Created:
2010-03-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Mae Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1919. She graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1937 and eventually went to nursing school. Because she could not finish nursing school, Mae traveled to California with a friend. After visiting California, she decided she would enlist in Woman's Army Corps (WAC) in New Haven, Connecticut. She was then sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for basic training. After basic training, Mae was sent to Hot Springs, Arkansas where she worked in a hospital as she was assigned to the Surgical and Medical Wards. Once she was finished in Arkansas in early 1945, she was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois where she maintained a similar position as before. While at Fort Sheridan she met her future husband and met many German POWs.
Date Created:
2012-02-08T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Shirley Morris grew up in the western United States and attended nursing school between 1941 and 1944. Upon graduating, she was recruited into the army. After military orientation at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, she was sent to the Pacific on a hospital ship and assigned to a hospital in the Philippines. She later went to Yokohama, Japan and served in an American military hospital there for three months before being sent home.
Date Created:
2010-11-18T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Arthur Louis Smith is a WW II and Korean War veteran who served in the United States Army and the National Guard. Smith served in WW II from 1942 until 1945 in the Pacific Theatre and served his time for Korea at Valdosta Base, Georgia. During WW II, Smith was on the same ship that General MacArthur was on when he signed the peace treaty with Japan. In this interview, Smith shares his childhood recollections during WWI that included witnessing the burning of an effigy of the Kaiser in Ste. Saint Marie, his home town. Smith discusses his high school years and his love of sports, which spurred a life long coaching career. Throughout his years in the service, Smith coached the Army and National Guard basketball teams.
Date Created:
2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Willard Van Singel was drafted into the Army in 1941 and trained in Texas. He spent 3 years in Texas working as a battalion supply sergeant and also helped with administration and clerical work. Willard then served in the 83rd Infantry Division, landing in France in late 1944. He switched from being a supply sergeant to being a platoon sergeant in a rifle company and saw action in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and at the end of the war met the Soviets east of the Elbe River.
Date Created:
2007-11-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Bill Williams was born in Muscatine, Iowa on December 20, 1941. He attended Colorado State University and was part of the Army ROTC, graduating and receiving his commission in 1963. He went to Fort Benning, Georgia for Infantry Officer Basic Training and Jump School (paratrooper training). He spent a year stationed in South Korea serving as a platoon leader in the 7th Infantry Division. After South Korea he returned to the United States and received Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in early 1966 he was deployed to Vietnam. He served at a Green Beret outpost in Nha Trang and at another outpost in Pleiku until early 1967. He took the Infantry Officer Advanced Course and was a small arms instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia for eighteen months. He was redeployed to Vietnam in December 1969 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He served as the assistant S3 officer at 3rd Brigade Headquarters for four months until he was assigned to be the company commander of Bravo Company 2nd Battalion 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He carried out patrols around Firebase Ripcord in spring 1970 and fought at Hill 805 until B Company moved to Firebase Ripcord in July 1970 and experienced the siege of Ripcord. Shortly before the fall of Ripcord he was severely wounded and was medically evacuated. He received treatment in Vietnam, Japan, and California before completing his service at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Date Created:
2015-10-10T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes his arrival at Rangoon, his first experience with the other members of the AVG and flying a P-40, in addition to meeting General Claire Chennault.
Date Created:
1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Dr. Lewis Richards by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Dr. Lewis J. Richards, or "Doc Rich" as he was known in the American Volunteer Group (AVG), served as the unit's Flight Surgeon. In this tape, Richards describes the conditions he was working under in the field and away from the hospital, in addition to his personal reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor.
Date Created:
1991-05-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ralph Baldwin was an astronomy instructor at Northwestern University in 1941 who volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor. He was initially assigned to teach navigation, but lobbied for a more important assignment. He was sent in 1942 to a secret program in Maryland being run by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Here he helped to develop the proximity fuse, a device that enabled anti-aircraft shells to sense when they were near targets and explode. By the end of the war, the fuse had become highly effective, and aspects of the technology developed for it are still used today.
Date Created:
2007-11-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Louis Dudeck was born in 1943 in Bloomer, Wisconsin, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1963. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, and served with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Pendleton until he unit was deployed to Vietnam in 1965 and redesignated as the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. His unit did jungle training on Okinawa, and then landed at Da Nang, the first ground combat unit in Vietnam. His battalion initially guarded the Da Nang airport, then went to Chu Lai, and Dudeck was then transferred to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, with whom he participated in Operation Harvest Moon in December, where his company took heavy losses. A few weeks later, while operating in the A Shau Valley, Dudeck was badly wounded and sent first to Japan and then to the US to recuperate, and was discharged for medical reasons in 1966. [Note: the first interview includes most of his combat history, and the second fills in some gaps in the early part of the story and clarifies several aspects of his Vietnam service.]
Date Created:
2007-05-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Chris Meeuwenberg was born Fremont, Michigan and drafted into the Army in 1943 when he was 19 years old. He went through training in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas and eventually became a medical technician. Chris was sent to Europe and landed in La Havre, France where they were immediately shot at by German planes. While in Europe Chris traveled through France, Germany, and Austria. He was eventually discharged near the end of the war and then went to Ferris State University for 4 years of pharmacy school.
Date Created:
2004-05-22T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Dominic P. Sondy served in the U.S. Army with the 662nd Field Artillery from April 1943 to January 1946 during World War II. In this account, Sondy discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his combat experiences in France and Germany. Personal narrative is appended to the interview outline.
Date Created:
2008-01-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
James O'Malley was born in Chicago in October 1932. In April 1951, he enlisted in the Navy. He received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, then went to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, for Pre-Flight School. He then went to Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee, for Aviation Electronics School. James was sent to Naval Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu, Hawaii, and joined Squadron VP-22, an antisubmarine patrol squadron. He served aboard a P2V-5 Neptune and conducted antisubmarine patrols around Hawaii. In spring 1952, Squadron VP-22 was sent to Okinawa to fly reconnaissance missions along the Chinese coast as part of the Korean War. His plane took antiaircraft fire on multiple occasions and they encountered Chinese fighter planes. After the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, he returned to Hawaii and was then reassigned to Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois. His final duty station was at Naval Air Station Glynco, Georgia, and he was discharged from there.
Date Created:
2017-01-24T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
William Van Dop was born in Muskegon Heights, Michigan on July 20, 1926. He was drafted in late summer 1944 and reported for duty in November 1944. He received basic training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas then received his advanced training in Fort Ord, California. He boarded a troopship in late May/early June 1945 and sailed to Manila in the Philippines. He was assigned to Military Police duty on August 1, 1945 and worked at a base on Manila Bay. William was stationed in the Philippines until October 1946. He sailed back to the United States and was discharged at Camp Beale, California in fall 1946.
Date Created:
2016-02-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline.
Date Created:
2007-10-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Clarence Hunter was born in London, Arkansas in 1935. He enlisted into the military and served in the Army and Navy. During his time with the Navy, Clarence spent a lot of time traveling up and down the coast of Korea during the Korean War.
Date Created:
2012-05-28T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Charles Jarocki joined the United States Air Force in 1986 and was stationed in many different parts of the United States and Europe for eleven years. While in the Air Force, Charles received his Bachelors degree and his Masters degree in computer programming. He never experienced hands on combat because he had been called out over seas just as the Persian Gulf War was ending. Charles still works in the computer programming and engineering field and believes that the Air Force was a great experience for him.
Date Created:
2007-06-03T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Bobby Jones was born in July of 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Creston High School where he was one of eight African American students. After receiving his draft notice two months after graduation, Bobby left for Montford Point Camp in North Carolina for Basic Training. He stayed and helped train new recruits once Basic Training was completed. Bobby then boarded a ship in Virginia for Okinawa. En route to Okinawa, he passed through the Panama Canal, Guam, and Iwo Jima. When he returned to the United States, Bobby reenlisted for four years and became a Drill Instructor. He remembers the training facilities being segregated between blacks and whites. In 1949 he married the sister of Malcolm X.
Date Created:
2012-10-18T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Merle Knight served in the Navy WAVES during World War II. She was a volunteer who spent all her time on the East Coast of the US, primarily at a naval air station. Although she wanted to go to serve in Pearl Harbor, she would change her mind due to the war ending
Date Created:
2004-04-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Howard Terry was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1927 and lived in different orphanages from the ages of 5-15. When he was 15 years old he lied about his age and enlist in the Marine Corps to get out of the orphanage. Howard went through boot camp for 6 weeks and then began traveling east until he eventually made it to Londonderry, Ireland where he worked with the First Provisional Marine Battalion guarding facilities in Northern Ireland. Howard was in Ireland for 2 years and then sent back to the US after the Normandy Invasion. After having some time off and going through more training Howard was sent to the Pacific where he fought in Okinawa and Guam. He was later stationed in Tsingtao, China before his 4years of service was up. Howard then signed up for 1.5 months with the Army, which he did not enjoy and decided to leave early. He later began working on a book, detailing his life in the orphanages and his time in the service.
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Bob Short was born in 1949 in Vandalia, Illinois. He grew up in the small town of Mulberry Grove, Illinois and graduated from high school there in 1967. Upon graduating high school he attended the West Point military academy in New York. He attended there for three academic semesters until he decided that it was time to leave. In February 1969 he formally left West Point. After leaving the academy he volunteered for the draft and was soon thereafter sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was able to skip training because of his West Point experience and by May 26, 1969 he was in Vietnam. He was assigned to Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion of the 46th Infantry part of the Americal (23rd Infantry) Division. His unit operated off of Landing Zone Professional and around the area of Chu Lai. Over the course of a year and a half he would serve in a variety of roles, from walking point to working in the Combat Center at Chu Lai developing a Vietnamese relations course. In November 1970 he left Vietnam and by January 1971 he was attending college at Illinois State. He would go on to get his master's degree in employee health and safety, and working all over America finally settling down in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is now a prominent member of the Buddy to Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program based out of the University of Michigan helping veterans in the post-9/11 era.
Date Created:
2013-10-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Paola Onesto was raised in Chicago. Her family was among the first to buy land and build lakeshore summer cottages in Saugatuck. Her family home was completed in 1921, and Paola recounts generations of family members spending their summers on the lakeshore.
Date Created:
2018-06-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Charles Older by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles Older trained as a pilot in Long Beach and Pensacola, earning his Navy wings in 1940. He then served in the Marine Fighting Squadron One and was qualified in gunnery, dive bombing, and carrier landings. Older joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in August 1941 and sailed to Burma. He served as a Flight Leader for the 3rd Squadron "Hell's Angels," and participated in the squadron's first combat over Rangoon where he downed two enemy aircraft. By the time the AVG disbanded in 1942, he had 10 total victories. After leaving the AVG, Older joined the US Army Air Forces and returned to China in 1944 with the 23rd Fighter Group. After the war, Older left the Air Force as a Lt. Col. and earned a law degree from the University of Southern California. He practiced law until becoming a superior court judge for Los Angeles. In the 1970s, he gained notoriety for presiding over the Charles Manson murder trials. In this tape, Older describes how it felt to shoot down enemy aircraft and his focus on survival, in addition to the types of planes that he fought.
Date Created:
1991-04-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Jim Southerland was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1946 and graduated high school in 1966. He joined the Army on May 19th, 1965. Southerland completed his Basic Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and then advanced infantry training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. At Fort Benning, Georgia, he also completed jump school. His first deployment was to Germany where he took part in the Nijmegen March in Holland. After reenlisting, Southerland was deployed to Vietnam with the 1st Brigade, 1st Calvary Division as an RTO (radiotelephone operator) for his platoon leader and eventually became a squad leader. He was involved in the Tet Offensive in early 1968 before his last assignment as an MOS personnel specialist in Saigon. Southerland left Vietnam in April, 1969, and left the service in May, 1969, but remained active in the Virginia National Guard.
Date Created:
2017-09-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Carl Ballard was born on October 16, 1932 in Kent County, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1951 and then enlisted in the Army. Carl trained in Kentucky and went through leadership school after basic. He was then sent to South Korea where he joined the 2nd Infantry Division and went on patrols at night. Carl was later transferred to the Heavy Weapons company where he worked as a squad leader. Carl had received enough points to return home a few months after the cease fire.
Date Created:
2004-10-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Douglas Broek grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1967 to stay ahead of the draft. After completing basic training in San Antonio, he spent about two years working as a clerk for a security unit at Loring Air Force Base in Maine. In June, 1969, he was sent to Vietnam. He served his tour at Binh Thuy in the Mekong Delta, and worked as the R&R clerk for all of the military units based in the area. Things were pretty quiet in his area at the time, and he picked up other odd jobs on the base just to stay busy. After returning to the US in 1970, he completed his enlistment as a clerk with a heavy equipment unit based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Date Created:
2011-12-05T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Arch Crist joined the US Army in 1946 and left after a year and a half. He spent his training time in the U.S. at Fort Snelling, Fort Sheridan, and in Fort Lewis. He was shipped out from San Francisco to Japan where he was part of the occupational force. Before getting to Japan he stopped in Guam where he celebrated Christmas. He tells of his experiences in Japan while in Yokohama harbor, and while at the base in Omiya. He attended the War Crimes Trials in Tokyo, and took part in a parade on the Imperial Palace grounds. General MacArthur was watching the processions at the Imperial Palace that day. He talks about the close friendships he made while in Omiya. He also mentions how his experience in Japan was shaped by the US government's decision to let Hirohito escape trial. He went on to be a journalist and then an advertising executive in Minneapolis.
Date Created:
2007-05-20T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Norman Curtis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. During his time in Vietnam, he worked at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon. His job was vehicle maintenance and recovery, which kept him for the most part on base but he did spend some time retrieving disabled vehicles. He also worked for a time at a survival training school at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida as an instructor.
Date Created:
2004-12-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Dorothy Folkema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1922. She left high school after three years and went to work in a factory. She met her future husband, Harold Folkema, in 1939, and they were married in 1941. When the war started, she quit her job to protect her husband's deferment status, but he was drafted in 1943 and wound up on Omaha Beach on D-Day (see his interview in this archive). She had a child to take care of by then, and discusses different aspects of home front life while her husband was away.
Date Created:
2009-10-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Lloyd was born on July 4, 1925 in Jamestown, North Dakota. His family moved to California before they settled in Michigan. His father was a missionary with the American Sunday School Union. When Lloyd was a senior in high school he took the entrance exams to join the Air Force but was turned down because of his depth perception. He was later drafted into the Army in November 1943. He was sent to Europe as a replacement after D-Day and served in a heavy weapons company in the 79th Division until wounded in northeastern France late in 1944.
Date Created:
2013-08-14T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Harry Jelsema was born to a farmer in Allegan, Michigan and served in the Army during World War II. He was drafted in 1944, and sent to basic training and after that to Europe, where he was a bazooka man. He fought in Northern France, Belgium, and Northern Germany, eventually meeting the Soviets. He was then shipped back to the US and was supposed to go to Japan, but the war ended before this could happen. He worked a desk job at Fort Carson, Colorado until he was discharged in 1946.
Date Created:
2008-11-11T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Paul Meiers was born in Latvia, where, at the age of six, he and his family were moved to Germany and, eventually, put in a displaced persons camp. After receiving a sponsor to live in America, Meiers enlisted into the Air Force in 1956 where he served in Communications.
Date Created:
2010-05-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Donald Newton was born in Grand Rapids, MI and graduated from high school at age 16. When he was eligible, he joined the Navy and did basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station. He then moved to submarine training at New London, CT. He was then assigned to the USS Icefish and patrolled the Pacific Ocean, making attacks on various different Japanese vessels.
Date Created:
2008-09-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Myrtle Zietlow was born outside of Chicago in 1921. She attended the University of Illinois, and after graduating she went to work for Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut, where they made aircraft engines. She tells her own story as well as that of her husband, George, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945.
Date Created:
2009-05-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Richard Swanson was born in Lucas County, Iowa, in 1930 and graduated from high school in 1948. He received his draft notice in 1951, just days after he had gotten married. Richard went through training in Arkansas for only 6 weeks and was then sent to Japan to work with the 176th Artillery Unit. Richard spent 16 months fighting on the front line in Korea and worked to support a South Korean unit.
Date Created:
2010-01-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Charles Windisch grew up in Holland, Michigan during the depression. Although times were rough, his parents were both able to hold on to their jobs during the depression. Charles went to school through the sixth grade and joined the National Guard when he was only sixteen. He eventually enlisted in the Navy and traveled through the Pacific to islands such as Hawaii, Guam, and Okinawa. He served between 1941 and 1946 primarily on the USS Nashville, but also did a stint as a demolitions frogman.
Date Created:
2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Glendle Callahan served in the Korean War in the United States Army from February 1951 to November 1952 in Alabama and Korea. In this interview, Callahan tells of the day he received his draft letter and why he volunteered to go to Korea after being at Camp Rooker, Alabama. Once overseas he attended supply school and became involved in the Field Artillery.
Date Created:
2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Harold Hanselman served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He was stationed on Attu Island in the Aleutian chain in the northern Pacific ocean. He was a radio operator in a B-25 bomber that would fly bombing missions in the Kurile Islands north of Japan. He discusses both the living conditions on Attu and the experience of flying missions in that area, where the Soviets and the weather added to the problems caused by the Japanese.
Date Created:
2008-03-19T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Thomas McIntire enlisted in the US Army three days after his graduation from high school. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp, and later for truck mechanic school. The Army sent Thomas to Germany, where he worked in the motor pool on a base there. Thomas was discharged in June of 1968, and came back to Michigan to become a tool and die maker.
Date Created:
2005-05-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
John Reilly was born in Kittery, Maine, in 1946, and grew up in New Jersey. After graduating from college in 1968, he decided to enlist in the Army before he was drafted. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Reilly went through the Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Although initially slated for officer training, Reilly dropped out and deployed to Vietnam in June 1969. Once in Vietnam, Reilly joined the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Trained in fire direction control, he served at Firebases Airborne and Berchtesgaden in the latter stages of the 1969 campaign in the A Shau Valley, and later served with the battalion headquarters at Camp Eagle, where he was stationed at the start of the Ripcord campaign.
Date Created:
2011-10-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Eugene Schmidt was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1918. He joined the National Guard during high school and was federalized on October 15, 1940. Eugene was assigned to a Head Quarters Company and he was deployed to Australia. Then he was sent to New Guinea and was injured by a loose fuel barrel on the way over. He had to stay in the rear while his company went to Buna and after they were done he met up with them in Australia for amphibious assault training. They went on 2 assaults in New Guinea at Saidor and Aitape. In October of 1944 he was sent back to the US and was assigned to be a MP in Detroit, Michigan. Eugene was discharged in July of 1945.
Date Created:
2008-07-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Terry Donahue was born in 1925 in a farming community in Saskatchewan, and grew up playing baseball with her family and friends, and softball at school. At the age of fifteen, she was recruited onto the Moosejaw Royals, a women's softball team, and was spotted by American scouts from there and went to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1946. She played four seasons for the Peoria Redwings, starting as a utility player and winding up as a catcher. She left the league in 1950 for a softball league in Chicago, and stayed there to work for an interior design firm.
Date Created:
2010-08-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Robert Vander Laan is a Korean War era veteran who served in the 7th Army 966 Field Engineering Battalion. He was sent to Germany during his time in the service, and was never involved in any active combat. However, he witnessed the aftermath of WW II during his travels throughout Europe. He also discusses his reaction upon being taken by the Army to several concentration camps in the Munich are. He also recalls the difficulties of basic training during the summer in Louisiana.
Date Created:
2007-06-25T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ken Vandenberg of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was drafted into the Army in 1961. After basic training at Fort Knox, he went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for military police training, and was then sent to La Rochelle, France, where he served until 1963.
Date Created:
2010-04-24T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Richard DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1926. He grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School. After graduating he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, and after being processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois was sent to Sheppard Field, Texas for basic training and glider mechanic school. He was then sent to a base near Winston-Salem, North Carolina to aid in the training of glider pilots. From there he received orders to be deployed to the Pacific Theatre. He shipped out of Portland, Oregon shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered. He was stationed on the island of Tinian aiding in the effort to bring material back to the United States as well as the transportation of food to the various mess halls on the island. From Tinian he was sent to Clark Field in the Philippines where he continued to load supplies onto ships bound for the U.S.
Date Created:
2011-05-18T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ronald Allen served in the Air Force from 1970 to 1974. He enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army and had a deeper interest in serving with the Air Force and working with aircraft. After travelling from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana he was inducted into the Air Force and was sent to basic training. He was deployed to Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam in April 1972 where he served with the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron after he trained with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah. During his time in Vietnam he was involved in a large number of rescue missions and had multiple incidents involving enemy artillery fire. In December 1972 his unit was deactivated and he was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard and attached to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron stationed in Thailand. In February 1972 he returned home and continued to work with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah.
Date Created:
2013-05-21T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Wayne Anderson served as an armorer in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945. He was based in England and serviced fighter planes, primarily P-51 Mustangs, that escorted bombing missions. At the time of the Battle of the Bulge, he was assigned to infantry training in France, but was not needed for combat. He served as a prison camp guard before being sent back to the US for his discharge.
Date Created:
2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Albert Eitel, born in Nebraska in 1926, served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 in the Pacific theater during World War II. Albert enlisted at the age of 17. He did basic training at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, and then trained on LSTs at Camp Bradford, Virginia. He then joined the crew of a new LST at its shipyard in southern Indiana and sailed with her to the Pacific, where he participated in the campaign in the Philippines. Albert started out as a deck hand, but soon became a storekeeper. After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the ship spent several months ferrying Japanese and Chinese soldiers from Korea, China and Indochina back to their home countries.
Date Created:
2011-04-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Steve Collison was born in 1961 in Pontiac, Michigan and served in the Army starting in 1981. He had a troubled childhood, and joined the Army to get away from home. He served as a cook at bases in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. When he completed 6 years he returned home and married another veteran.
Date Created:
2007-03-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
James de la Cruz was born in Texas in 1945 and moved to Michigan when he was one year old. James spent 3 years in the ROTC while going to school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. James enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and was sent to Texas for basic training. He also spent time training in Illinois for mechanics training. His first duty station was in Tampa, Florida where he spent 14 months maintaining aircraft on base. James then left for Ubon, Thailand where he was stationed for a year maintaining aircraft. After Thailand, James was sent to Tinker Base in Oklahoma before being discharged 9 months early.
Date Created:
2008-11-13T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Joseph Larner was born in Lansing, Michigan on September 29th, 1976. Joe decided to join the National Guard at the age of 29 in 2007. He trained as a combat engineer at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Joe was assigned to the 507th Engineer Battalion. Joe and his unit deployed to Afghanistan in May of 2012. Joe did security for convoys for most of his time in Afghanistan. He is currently serving in a full time position with the Guard.
Date Created:
2014-03-08T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Michael McGregor, born in Indiana in 1943, served in the U.S. Army from November of 1966 through late 1968 in the 1st Cavalry Division in the Vietnam War. After receiving his draft notice, Michael trained at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was then sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he began his work in field artillery. In the fall of 1967 Michael was sent to Vietnam and was placed in the 1st Cavalry. He served in the Phan Thiet area at the end of Operation Byrd, and moved up to the Hue area after the start of the Tet Offensive, and later in the Khe Sanh area and the A Shau Valley.
Date Created:
2010-05-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Hung Q Vu was born in Nam Dinh, Vietnam in 1952. In 1954 his family moved to Bien Hoa, Vietnam because they were Catholic and faced oppression from the Communists. He studied at the Saigon University of Law and eventually joined the Vietnamese Air Force in 1972. After passing an English test in Basic Training, Vu was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and Shepherd Air Force Base for further pilot training. Vu trained on the T-41 and T-37. He met back up with his squad at Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam in late 1974. Vu was captured and sent to a labor camp. Eventually Vu and his wife were able, after many attempts, to escape to the United States under a program started by Ronald Reagan in 1989.
Date Created:
2010-06-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Henry Shuster Jr. served in the Army during the Vietnam War. After attending Officer Candidate School and going through training, he was assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Division where he dealt with many search and destroy missions in Vietnam. His station was between the border of Cambodia and the city of Saigon, which was his company's top priority to protect.
Date Created:
2009-05-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ralph Slager was born in Comstock, Michigan on January 9, 1928. He grew up in Comstock during the Great Depression and World War Two and graduated in June 1945. The draft was still in effect after the war ended, and after turning eighteen in January 1946 he was susceptible to being drafted. He decided to enlist in the Army for an eighteen month commitment on March 8, 1946. He reported to Fort Custer, Michigan and Fort Sheridan, Illinois for his physical and getting inducted, and was then sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training and artillery training. He was then stationed at Camp Campbell, Kentucky with a signal company in the 5th Division, and then was sent to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for high speed radio operator training. After that training he was reassigned to a signal company in the 3rd Division at Fort Meade, Maryland where he worked as a radio operator in Baltimore, Maryland and at a hospital on base. He was discharged on September 7, 1947.
Date Created:
2015-05-18T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Gord Youngquist served in the United States Coast Guard from 1977 to 1987. During this period Gord served in a wide variety of positions and locations from Cortez Florida, Sarasota Florida, Saint Petersburg Florida, as well as aboard an ice breaker that did voyages in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In this interview, Gord recounts his time in all of these location, particularly Saint Petersburg Florida, where he helped on both the Blackthorn as well as the Sunshine Bridge disasters. Gord also accounts the repercussions his service has had on him as well as his struggle living with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.)
Date Created:
2011-11-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Ed "Sarge" Fobes by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Fobes served as AVG Headquarters Clerk. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Loiwing and Kunming, China. In this tape, Fobes describes his first impression of the camp at Toungoo, his duties as a member of a squadron, and his first interaction with General Chennault.
Date Created:
1991-05-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Robert "Burma Bob" Locke by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Locke was recruited to join the American Volunteer Group (AVG) from the Navy, where he was a Propeller Speciallist. He served his full term with the unit and was honorably discharged in 1942 when the AVG disbanded. In this tape, Locke describes what was doing prior to joinging the AVG, how he was recruited as a propeller technician, and his journey and eventual arrival in Toungoo.
Date Created:
1991-02-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of Robert "Burma Bob" Locke by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Locke was recruited to join the American Volunteer Group (AVG) from the Navy, where he was a Propeller Speciallist. He served his full term with the unit and was honorably discharged in 1942 when the AVG disbanded. In this tape, Locke describes the events that happened during their final days in the AVG and his overall feelings on their accomplishments serving as Flying Tigers.
Date Created:
1991-02-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Richard Dahlen served in Army between 1969 and 1972, and spent about a year as an air traffic controller for the Army at Cu Chi in Vietnam. He discusses his specialized training for his assignment, his work at Cu Chi, and his impressions of both the American operations that he was involved in and the Vietnamese people he worked with and observed on the base. He also discusses his views of the war itself and comments on common misperceptions of the war and the men who fought it.
Date Created:
2007-10-22T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Lawrence Gardner was born in Illinois near the Mississippi River and enlisted in the Marine Corps during WWII. He was pulled out of basic training to take courses in aerial photography. He served in the Pacific and helped to plan the invasions of Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He worked as a mapmaker with the 4th Marine Division, and at times served on the islands that the division attacked. On Iwo Jima, he volunteered to serve in the front lines when his division was short of men.
Date Created:
2008-11-14T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Charles Hennesen was born in Fort Erie, Ontario and grew up in Buffalo, New York. He joined the Army Reserves while in college and was then called into Active Duty upon graduation. He served in 39th Regiment, 9th Division, in the European Theatre, specifically in Normandy, Northern France, Belgium, and Germany. He was wounded in the hip during an assault on the town of Aachen, and spent around a year and a half in hospitals in both Europe and the United States.
Date Created:
2008-08-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Uwe Meyer, Born in Germany in 1949, moved to Iowa as a child and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1969. After training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent to Vietnam. Upon arrival, he was assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 506h Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division. He spent his first few months in Vietnam in early 1970 patrolling the area around Camp Evans, and was then moved into the hills to the west and participated in the fighting on and around Firebase Ripcord. He participated in his company's failed attempt to establish the Ripcord base on April 1, 1970, and from mid-June served as a machine gunner on the base until it was evacuated in July. Upon returning to the US, he spent the rest of his enlistment at Fort Hood, Texas, working with ground radar units.
Date Created:
2012-10-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Interview of General Yu Wei of the Republic of China Air Force by filmmaker Frank boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. In this tape, Yu Wei discusses when he first heard of General Chennault and the American Volunteer Group, in addition to his cadet training in China and the United States.
Date Created:
1991-03-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Raymond Paul Opeka was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1956. He convinced his mother to give him written permission to join the Army before he graduated from high school. He was sent to Fort Polk for basic training where he did very poorly on many of the physical tests and activities, and in the advanced training. Opeka was able to remain in the Army at that time because of the shortage of enlisted men. Raymond was sent to Germany, where he continued training. Many of the men he was stationed with were doing lots of drugs and there were also many racial fights.
Date Created:
2008-09-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Jack grew up with boats, and enlisted in Merchant Marines as soon as he turned 18 because he wanted to be sure to go to sea. He served on several different cargo ships, crossing the Atlantic several times and visiting Britain, North Africa, France, Italy and South America. Describes convoy duty, life on ship, and explosion of a tanker hit by a U-Boat's torpedo.
Date Created:
2007-10-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Charles Hammond was born in Columbus, Ohio on August 24, 1919 and was drafted in 1940. He trained at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He was assigned to the 4th Armored Division and served in France, Belgium, Germany and Czechoslovakia as a military policeman who dealt with prisoners of war. He traveled through France, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. The prisoners that he dealt with were very well behaved and did not have many troubles with them, the only problem he complained about was the sheer size of some of the groups that they had to escort.
Date Created:
2008-02-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
William Mulvey joined the Navy in 1937 and served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. William joined the Navy in 1937, and was trained in Rhode Island before he was placed on the USS Texas. He was then transferred to the USS Boise where he remained until part way through World War II. He participated in the Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal on the Boise, and was then transferred to the USS Indianapolis, and served on that ship until a Japanese submarine sank it. He survived the aftermath, and joined the Naval Reserves upon his return to the United States. He was reactivated for the Korean War, and served in several capacities including on the USS Ticonderoga. He also served in the Vietnam War on a ship used for beach landings. He eventually retired from the Navy in the 1960s.
Date Created:
2009-09-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ronald Sabin, Sr. was born in Wyoming, Michigan in 1935 and graduated from high school in 1954. Ronald enlisted in the Army during the Korean War only a few months after he had graduated. He was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training for 8 weeks and then to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas for guided missile training. After training in Texas, Ronald continued there working as an instructor and was there for a total of about 2 years. He then moved back to Michigan and was on call with the Wisconsin Reserves for another 12 years.
Date Created:
2009-09-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Bob Veenstra was drafted into the US Navy in 1943. He trained as a Seabee in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was stationed in California before being sent to Samar in the Philippines. After the war he was stationed in Shanghai.
Date Created:
2004-10-13T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Mort Hoffman was born in Rochester, New York in 1926. He grew up in Rochester and graduated in June 1944. From 1942-1944 he was in the New York National Guard and after graduating from high school decided to enlist in the Navy. He trained at Naval Training Station Sampson, New York and was deployed out of Camp Parks, California. He was sent up to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and served on the island of Adak with the 114th Naval Construction Battalion, helping to maintain vehicles and equipment as well as take part in construction projects. He stayed on the Aleutian Islands from December 1944 to July 1946, and was discharged shortly after his return.
Date Created:
2015-05-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Madeline McGregor was born in 1946 in South Bend Indiana. She married her husband Mike McGregor in 1965, at age 19, and her husband was drafted the next year. Around the same time she became pregnant, and had her son Mike Jr shortly before her husband left for Vietnam. While her husband was training but before her son was born Madeline sold typewriters at a store. After he served his two years Mike returned and they had another child named Melissa.
Date Created:
2014-10-09T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Frank Anthony was born in Muskegon, Michigan on February 6th, 1947. He attended college at Ferris State University after graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the military in 1967 and attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in May of the same year. He then did advanced infantry training (AIT) at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After completing AIT, he continued on to the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and became a Warrant Officer. Frank also attended ranger/special forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was participating in long-range recon school when his request to go to flight school was accepted. He went to flight school in 1968, which lasted for 9 months. He arrived in Vietnam in the middle of 1969. In Vietnam, he was the Safety Officer for a short period of time before becoming the Executive Officer of the Aviation Company, all the while working as a helicopter pilot. He was a part of the 52nd artillery division located in Pleiku, Vietnam. He flew a variety of helicopters while stationed in Vietnam. Frank was involved in several different skirmishes during his time in Vietnam, including the incursion into Cambodia. Frank also participated in jungle environmental survival training in Subic Bay, Philippines while on R and R. He completed a tour and a half before he left Vietnam on December 23rd, 1970. While in the military, Frank received numerous awards, including the award of the Red Banana. After leaving the service, Frank worked in law enforcement for many years.
Date Created:
2017-06-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Robert Brady took ROTC training while in college and joined the US Navy in 1956. He served for three years in various capacities, including duty on an LST in the Mediterranean during the Lebanon Crisis.
Date Created:
2009-06-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
William Bos was born in Cascade, Michigan on December 18, 1922 and went to school there through 8th grade. He had to quit school early to work on his father's farm when his father got sick and later received deferments from serving in WWII because he was a farmer. Bill grew anxious while his friends were being drafted and enlisted and decided to enlist in the Navy in June of 1944. After basic training, he was sent to the Pacific and endured a very long and difficult voyage to the New Hebrides, where he worked for several months on a Marine base and helped set up farms there. Late in the year, he was assigned as an anti-aircraft gunner on an escort ship and sailed to Guadalcanal, the Philippines and Okinawa, where he witnessed many kamikaze attacks.
Date Created:
2008-12-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Jack Floyd served in the United States Army, 1st Engineers, 5th Infantry Division, during WW II. He was part of the Third Army and describes Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and General Patton. He also describes trapping, skinning and eating muskrats. He was involved in the Field Training exercises in the southern Mississippi River Valley, and was also stationed in Iceland, England, Ireland and continental Europe.
Date Created:
2005-09-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Ed Henk was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 21st, 1944. After graduating from high school, Henk attended Grand Rapids Junior College for three semesters before transferring to Ferris State University to study data processing. However, in 1966, the middle of his junior year at Ferris State, Henk received his draft notice. Following basic training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for combat engineering, Henk attended OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia for sixteen weeks, although he never completed the school. After leaving OCS, Henk deployed to Vietnam in 1967 and served with the 1st Air Cavalry Division. While in Vietnam, Henk fought through the Tet Offensive, including the defense of the MACV compound in Hue. Following the completion of his tour, Henk returned to the United States and received his discharge.
Date Created:
2011-03-03T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Raymond Hawkins, Sr. served in the Navy during the end of the Korean War. He enlisted in the Navy with hopes of traveling and avoiding being drafted into the Army. Raymond went through basic training at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois. He then went through radio school and security training in California before he was stationed in Alaska. Raymond served as a radio technician in Alaska and Puerto Rico and was in the Navy for a total of 4 years.
Date Created:
2010-06-03T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries